Ford, General Motors, Marriott, Hormel and Michael Kors have pledged to use ethical recruitment policies throughout their global supply chains aimed at ending human rights and labor rights violations. The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, a coalition of faith and values investors, reached an agreement with the five companies resulting from its shareholder campaign for them to institute "no-fees" recruitment policies.

Twinings tea company will implement a new human rights framework to ensure the well-being of its supply chain employees. The company initiated the framework as part of a larger corporate social responsibility campaign called Sourced With Care, which looks for ways to meet the needs of local communities.

The US' conflict minerals rule and Dodd-Frank Act have reduced the amount of precious metals sourced by militia groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo and have improved conditions for miners, a human rights group said. "Dodd-Frank could be the impetus for developing, in the DRC, an innovative and socially sustainable source of conflict-free tantalum," said Per-Olof Loof, CEO of electronics company KEMET.

Some progressive groups see shareholder activism as a key strategy for persuading or forcing companies to adopt more environmentally friendly business strategies. "It's not for everybody, but we think it's an important tool in a multilateral approach to changing some of the world's most intractable problems," said Laura Berry, executive director of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility.

Global car manufacturing giants -- such as Ford, Toyota, Volvo and Honda -- have agreed on common minimum standards for working conditions, human rights, business ethics and the environment to ramp up supply chain sustainability. "This is a helpful starting point to give direction to the supply base," said Tanya Bolden, corporate responsibility program development manager at Automotive Industry Action Group.